Twenty-five years ago this month, I walked the stage at Lincoln Center with my classmates as we collectively became graduates of the (Icahn) Mount Sinai School of Medicine. A month later, I shipped my bags and two boxes and boarded the 9-hr flight to Honolulu HI for my PGY1 Prelim Medicine Year. Little did I know that year of seeing and treating unusual diseases would be one of the formative experiences to later spark my passion for endeavors in Global Health and Global Ophthalmology. Medicine is an incredible and incredibly broad career, and I am so fortunate that it chose me. Medicine (& Surgery) have given me all the joys, frustrations, challenges, and rewards of a Life Calling. So thankful for the other physicians in my life who inspired and shared this journey with me, my mentors who guided me – and this career in Oculofacial Plastic Surgery that has taken me to the most fascinating and remote places and connected me with the best people, dedicated professionals, and authentic experiences. Grateful to the countless patients and their families who have entrusted me with their care all these years. And yes, a fact (see banner in photo): around the year 2000, during a transitional and particularly tumultuous period when hospital and medical school mergers were increasingly common in NYC in response to major changes in the health insurance landscape, Mount Sinai became part of New York University – and NYU briefly had 2 medical schools! Shortly thereafter each regained its more influential status as an independent institution of medical education! Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this remarkable journey. (I’m on the left in the photo with a few med school classmates.)
